LITTLE ROCK — A week after Darren McFadden returned to practice for the first time in seven months, the former Arkansas star was back in his home state, peddling a new barbecue sauce while exchanging greetings with fans.
McFadden, who has yet to play a full NFL season since being drafted fourth overall by the Oakland Raiders in 2008 and missed the final nine games of last season with an injury, spent Friday traveling from Batesville to Mountain Home and Saturday greeting fans in White Hall and then Benton.
He signed autographs — anything from a $100 bill for a bail bondsman in Mountain Home to a cast covering a child’s leg in Benton — and posed for pictures with fans who waited up to two hours in line at Sandy Acres Grocery in White Hall and Smith Caldwell Drug Store in Benton.
After fans left with autographs and a memory of meeting one of their favorite players — most also took with them a bottle of the new Sooey Sauce — McFadden and a small group of friends slipped out a back door, as he readied to spend the remainder of the holiday weekend with his family in central Arkansas.
“I always enjoy coming back home,” McFadden said.
On Monday or Tuesday, he’ll head back to his teammates in California to continue a comeback he hopes leads to his first uninterrupted professional season.
“I want to go out there and show everybody that what I did in 2010 isn’t a fluke,” said McFadden, tucked into a corner of the Benton drug store after he signed the last of what he estimated as more than 1,500 autographs in two days.
McFadden was the fourthbest rusher in the NFL in 2010, gaining 1,157 yards and seven touchdowns.
He rushed for more than 100 yards in six games that season, including a 165-yard effort against the Denver Broncos, after which then-Raiders Coach Tom Cable told the Oakland Tribune: “When he’s been on the field, he has shown that he is very much the guy we drafted.”
But that’s been McFadden’s problem.
Almost five years after he left Arkansas as a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist and its all-time leading rusher in a single game (321), a season (1,830) and a career (4,590), McFadden is still trying to prove he can be a reliable back with the Raiders.
“I think a lot of people know what I can do on the field,” McFadden said. “It’s just a question of whether I can stay healthy or not. ... I can live with the injuries that I’ve had, but I would like to stay healthy and try to make it through a whole season.”
Even his best season, in 2010, had injury issues. He missed three games, partly because he was nursing a sore hamstring. He’s also worked through shoulder and knee problems before he injured his right foot last October in Kansas City while trying to catch a pass in the first quarter of a 28-0 loss.
After being injured in October, McFadden did not start running again until April — he said it was the longest layoff he’s ever had — and now feels as good as he did before he got hurt.
Also, the Raiders let fellow running back Michael Bush, who rushed for 977 yards last year, sign with the Chicago Bears in the offseason.
Of the other running backs on the Raiders’ roster, only Taiwan Jones (16 rushes for 73 yards) had a carry last year.
“Yeah, I’m going to be the guy,” McFadden said. “I hated to part ways with Michael Bush. We had built a close bond. But, you know, that’s a part of football. I’m going to be the guy out there taking the bulk of the carries.
“It’s not something I’m not used to doing. But I’m going to go out there and live up to all the hype.”
If he does, he’ll be doing it surrounded by some unfamiliar teammates and coaches.
Along with the exit of Bush, McFadden practiced last week with quarterback Carson Palmer for the first time. Palmer played in the Week 7 game against the Chiefs, but not until the third quarter, after McFadden was lost for the season.
Without McFadden, Palmer and the Raiders went 4-5 to finish 8-8, and Coach Hue Jackson was fired after just one season.
That makes Dennis Allen the third coach McFadden has played for in three seasons, and the fourth since being drafted by the Raiders.
“That’s just part of the NFL,” he said. “It’s like a revolving door. It’s always changing and going around. That’s just something you have to deal with.”
But he’s pain-free. And it serves as a root for his optimism.
His cousin, Ron Watson, who started Sooey Sauce and convinced McFadden to help with the efforts, has seen that cause a change in his mood.
“His morale and everything is better,” Watson said. “He’s excited about this year. And we’re just looking forward to Darren McFadden being Darren McFadden.”
Sports, Pages 23 on 05/27/2012